skipping stones
by elizabeth tudors
Summary: Annie Cresta is a nimble sea-girl with pretty eyes and a love for Chopin. [finnick/annie] Modern AU


Hi. I wrote this over a year ago and totally forgot to post it, sorry :/

The characters don't belong to me.

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1.

For Annie Cresta, summers meant: sweltering heat sticking to her skin; making sandcastles on beaches in California; watching the waves crash over her small feet, washing away the sand buried over her toes; and blue skies stretching endlessly across the horizon, no cloud in sight.

When she was a young girl, Mags would take her down to the beach every single morning, and watch as she shaped sandcastles from blue plastic buckets. It was there that she held her first starfish—purple and spiny—and when she flipped them over, the thousands of moving tube feet fascinated her.

Then they would sit in the sun until it dipped below the edges of the sky, casting shades of orange and pink above them. Annie's head rested on Mag's shoulder, her green eyes quietly watching the sunset in peaceful rapture.

2.

Her fingers brush the white key with care, producing a barely-audible, but delicate sound. Annie wants to shrink into a speck of dust.

"Go ahead, try it," says the woman, peering at her fragility with exasperation.

This time, she decides to be bold. Her fingers fly at the keys, both black and white, hammering and smashing without grace. It's a jumble of meaty fingers and dissonant notes, clashing together. Annie cringes at the jarring sound and resists covering her ears to block it out.

"Good," the woman nods approvingly. Sitting down beside Annie on the piano bench, she stretches out long spindly arms and begins playing an elegant waltz. Annie's eager eyes widen with pleasant surprise. The music sings to her clearly and loudly; velvety and swirling in the _adagio _tempo.

The woman's nimble fingers dance spider-like across the piano. Annie stares at her, jaw dropped and hypnotized with awe. From that moment on, Annie sells her heart to the piano.

3.

At school, Annie prefers to remain in the shadows. Nose hidden behind books, eyes barely peeking over at the teacher in the very back row is where she feels the safest. The other kids either don't know her or ignore her. She makes it to high school without any friends.

She's sitting alone at a table in the library when it happens. Tucked away behind every other table, a secret only Annie knew, she thinks this is her best bet for privacy. Then loud, abrasive Johanna Mason, all of her six feet two inches and pixie cut, approaches her secret little table and drops a pile of textbooks in front of her.

Annie looks up from the book she's reading (a biography of Chopin, but what else is new?) and studies Johanna fearfully. They've never spoken to one another, but Annie is well aware of Johanna's extroverted attitude in class, frequently challenging teachers.

Johanna smiles—in a don't-ask-me-what-I'm-doing way, not nicely at all—and settles in to study alongside Annie, who goes back to reading her book.

Her presence slowly integrates itself into Annie's life as Johanna's appearances become routine. Always a stack of textbooks or binders, and a challenging look at Annie, who doesn't respond in the slightest or acknowledge her presence. Sometimes they chat about school, other times they study quietly, each on their own.

Annie won't admit it, but she's grateful for Johanna's consistent company.

4.

Moving across the country to Juilliard isn't Annie's best idea. After spending her entire life in the sunny beaches of California, the cool winters of New York shock her. She likes her roommate Katniss and her friends Peeta and Gale well enough, but they're too loud for her quiet ways. Always the partying and hookups. Annie's never done either.

For the first few months, Annie sits alone in her dorm and dutifully finishes her homework like Mags tells her to. She sends Mags postcards and flowers whenever she can and receives long letters back, postmarked with items of interest back home. She misses Mags like crazy.

She doesn't make any friends and sits at the very back of the lecture halls, where the voices of her professors are barely audible. She explores the city by herself at night, when the faint orange glow of the streetlamps illuminate her path across campus, and she can see her breath in the cold air.

She doesn't particularly like New York.

5.

Finnick Odair has a _very _bad reputation. Even though he goes to NYU, everyone across Juilliard knows him well enough to avoid him, except his groupies. Annie stays away from the likes of him, but she can't avoid him the night Katniss drags her out to a NYU party.

It's all dancing and sweating and music that she can't stand (in other words, _not classical) _and bright flashing lights. There's alcohol being passed around, drugs taken here and there, and Annie's sure the cops will arrive any minute. She's dizzy from the loudness of the music blaring into her ears and Annie spins around, trying to find the exit when someone taps her on her shoulder.

"Finnick Odair is staring at you," they notify Annie, whoever they are. She turns to where they're pointing and realizes that Finnick Odair is _indeed _staring at her. He's handsome in the classical Californian surfer dude way, but his green eyes match her own and somehow remind her of her family back home. He smiles at her with dimples and she tries hard to smile back, but she feels entirely sick.

They end up talking for the rest of the night, and Annie's heart flutters when he slips his number into her pocket before leaving the party.

6.

Red balloons, floating up the bluest sky, remind Annie of her childhood. In their gentle and fleeting nature, she remembers a life of calm, blue waves. She sees a loving Mags sneaking her some chocolate even when the doctor specified no sweets. The feel of the glowing red rubber squeaking against Annie's skin as she rubs it against her cheeks to test static electricity.

But when she lets go of the red balloon clutched tightly in her pale fingers, Annie's memories churn in her mind and twist around painfully; old memories she fought hard to block. Annie, when she was fifteen, losing her temper and snapping harshly at Mags. Standing over the graves of her parents, reminiscent of the one she towers over now.

She peers at the white headstone with red-rimmed eyes, before walking away, hand in hand with Finnick.

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Thanks for reading! Please review :)))))) you can find me at lilypotter on tumblr for any questions


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